Oshawa

Oshawa is a city in Durham Region, historically defined by its role as the home of General Motors of Canada. Long a working-class stronghold, the city had undergone a significant economic and demographic transition in the years leading up to the 2022 election. Thousands of new residents were moving into north Oshawa’s growing subdivisions near Highway 407, many of them priced out of Toronto’s housing market. The city’s three post-secondary institutions—Ontario Tech University, Durham College, and Trent University’s Durham campus—along with Lakeridge Health, the regional hospital system, had become major employers as the economy diversified.

Jennifer French of the NDP had held the seat since 2014, when she unseated Progressive Conservative incumbent Jerry Ouellette. Heading into 2022, French faced a tightening race as her share of the vote had declined from her initial victory to her 2018 re-election. The Conservatives made a strong push to take the riding in the broader blue wave that swept Durham Region.

Candidates

Jennifer French (NDP) — Born in Winchester, Ontario, near Ottawa, French grew up in the United States before returning to Canada to attend Queen’s University, where she earned a bachelor’s degree in biology. She spent three years teaching in Japan, then obtained a master’s degree in science with a teaching specialty and moved to Oshawa, where she taught elementary school for eight years in Durham Region schools before her election in 2014.

Alex Down (Progressive Conservative) — A public relations and real estate professional with experience working with organizations including General Motors of Canada and the City of Oshawa, Down was a first-time provincial candidate. She came within approximately 750 votes of defeating French in one of Oshawa’s closest elections in nearly two decades.

Catherine Mosca (Liberal) — Originally from Trinidad and Tobago, Mosca immigrated to Canada over 27 years before the election and chose Oshawa as her family’s home. She holds a bachelor’s degree in law and a master’s in business ethics and compliance, and served as Vice President of Compliance with a major banking institution. She was active in local palliative care, anti-racism, and cultural organizations.

Katarina Dunham (Green Party) — Dunham represented the Green Party in the Oshawa riding.

Daryl Janssen ran for the New Blue Party and Dave Forsythe for the Ontario Party.

Local Issues

The revival of the GM Oshawa Assembly plant was a defining local story. After GM announced in 2018 that it would end production in Oshawa, Unifor Local 222 negotiated a deal in November 2020 that brought pickup truck manufacturing back to the plant. Production of the Chevrolet Silverado HD began in November 2021, and the Silverado 1500 followed in May 2022, creating approximately 2,600 new manufacturing jobs and thousands of indirect supplier positions. The plant’s restart was celebrated as one of the fastest launches in GM history, though some workers and union members noted the jobs came with different wage structures than the previous generation of auto employment.

Housing affordability was an acute concern. Oshawa experienced some of the sharpest home price increases in Ontario between 2020 and 2022, driven by an influx of GTA buyers seeking lower prices. Demand far outstripped supply, and Durham Region was estimated to need 90,000 new homes over the following decade. Rental affordability was equally strained, with many residents struggling to find suitable housing.

Mental health services and support for vulnerable populations were also raised by voters during the campaign. The growing population placed additional pressure on Lakeridge Health and community agencies, and advocates called for more provincial investment in mental health, addictions treatment, and homelessness prevention.